Free To Be
by S J Smith-Evil Little Dog
Summary: Tim realizes he should've seen the clues earlier on that heralded the end of his relationship with Abby.


**Title: **Free to Be

**Author:** S J Smith

**Rating:** R - Teen

**Summary:** Tim should've seen the clues earlier.

**Disclaimer:** Oh, please, I own nothing.

**Note:** Written for the LJ community, Springkink, for the prompt "McGee/Abby: polyamory, end of relationship - He loved her, but they had a different idea about their relationship. Where McGee wanted monogamy, Abby believed in spreading the love."

X X X

Abby had a lot of friends. Maybe that should've been a hint earlier on.

Tim wondered why he hadn't seen the clues before. He was, he liked to think, a clever guy, albeit sometimes naive. Had there been warning signs he'd just been oblivious to, taking them at face value? Abby was, after all, a free spirit. She dispensed hugs the way other people offered smiles, and nearly everyone was her friend.

"You remember Bobbi? She's from that really cool bakery? She made me coffin-shaped cookies!"

"I saw Damian today, you know, Damian? He hustles tourists over on Vine? Wait, not important."

"It's a party, McGee! What do you mean, you're not coming with me?"

Bowling with the nuns, cemetery clean-up crew, haunted house owners convention, the little club over on the west side where they serve absinthe and have the best bands - not that she actually drank absinthe, but the fact that the club served it was enough. And no matter where they went, Abby knew someone, or someone knew of someone who knew her, and even though she introduced him with the same bright enthusiasm she had for nearly everything, Tim noticed Abby had a bit of a wandering eye. "Isn't she pretty, Timmy?" She'd pointed out a girl with pouty lips and bubblegum pink hair, dressed like a Goth girl's version of the Mad Hatter. Or a guy would wrap her up in his arms and plant kisses on the back of her neck, all over her cobweb tattoo, and Abby would laugh.

He'd called to say he'd be late for dinner - there was a bad accident on the highway, and no way to get around it. He'd be stuck there for a couple of hours - and a sweet slow voice had answered the telephone, breathless, with a soft moan caught in the 'Hello...? Busy...", then hung up before Tim could rattle off any questions. Abby didn't pick up after that, but when he finally got to her apartment, the sweet smell of incense ("Frankincense, it's nice, isn't it?") didn't quite mask another, familiar scent that clung to her skin. "I had a surprise for you earlier, Tim!" Abby had said, winding her arms around his neck, and he'd kissed her pout, tasting lime lip gloss - nothing Abby would wear. There was a pair of men's boxers - decidedly not his, from the size and the screaming yellow of them - and a t-shirt emblazoned with a zombie Barry Manilow - okay, that could've been Abby's, but it was a little bigger than she liked to wear, so Tim had to think otherwise.

Tim found Abby in front of his computer one night, long after he'd fallen asleep. She typed one-handed, whispering words into the headset. A delicious smile wreathed her mouth, her fingers dipping into the front of her panties, her nipples straining hard at the lightweight tank-top she usually wore to sleep in. Tim could just see the image on the screen - a pair of simulated characters from The City-World, a not quite true-to-life game - having sex on a night club balcony overlooking the mosh pit. Abby had just glanced up and back at him, licking her lips, and saying she'd be back to bed soon.

He sat up in the bedroom, waiting on her, thinking over everything. He hadn't been raised in a church, per se, but he did believe in the sanctity of a relationship. Certain things didn't matter much - the other partner's sex, for example. His aunt had been in a relationship as long as he could remember with another woman, Aunt Jennie and Aunt Bernie were as welcome at his family's table as Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Summer. What did matter was exclusivity. Tim put his partner first - her wants and her needs were something he always took into consideration. But this...

"Hey." Abby flopped down on the bed next to him, bumping his shoulder with hers. "Sorry about that. I didn't want to wake you up."

"You could've," Tim told her.

She smiled a little bit and shrugged. "It's just for fun, Timmy. I mean, I love you! You know that, right?"

Nodding, Tim said, "I do. But how many other people do you love, Abby?"

Her mouth twitched. "Busted." Sliding down on the bed, she laced her fingers over her stomach, staring up at the ceiling. "It's not you, Timmy!" Abby turned her gorgeous eyes up at him, completely serious. "You're amazing! You're smart and fun and," her smile went wicked, "almost completely malleable."

"You make it sound like I'm Silly Putty."

Abby slapped his thigh lightly. "You aren't, silly." Her face went serious again. "But it's the way I am, Tim. I like...lots of people. Variety. I'm really careful, though! Protection, protection, protection. And I get regular testing, just because, and I'm clean, absolutely, if you were at all worried."

"I wasn't," Tim said quietly, looking down at her.

"Good. I mean, not good that you might worry, but good that you trust me and..." Abby's voice trailed off and she sat back up again, laying her hands on Tim's shoulders. "I do love you."

Tim leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I know you do, Abby. But I can't be one of many. I have to be one of two."

"McGee," she said, in that rusty, plaintive tone of hers.

"Abby." He smiled back, a little crooked, but that was okay.

Abby lunged at him, knocking him back into the mattress. Her hug was so tight, Tim thought she'd choke off his air. "You'll always have a special place in my heart," she whispered, before giving him a kiss, hard enough to almost make his head spin.

"You, too," Tim said, hugging her back.

He held her until she drifted off to sleep, swimming away from him in her dreams. Tim rolled with her, whispering his goodbyes into her hair, before turning to lie on his back again.

Abby had a lot of friends. He'd always be one of them. That would have to be enough.

X X X


End file.
